7Adam Gallery Restaurant

Nestled within Adam Park, on a hill overlooking Adam Road, 7Adam Gallery Restaurant sits inside an elegant black and white colonial-style building. As its name suggests, it’s part restaurant, part art gallery, with several artworks scattered tastefully around the dining rooms. If K ain’t with me for the tasting that day, I’d be inclined to bring him on a date there as I’ve since pegged it as a romantic dining destination (as we know, he’s got a thing for ambience).

Menu is contemporary fusion, European with a touch of Asian influence. Decent food, nothing too exciting, all very acceptable. Ironically, the one dish that stood out for me was what the rest of the table didn’t try: masala marinated atlantic cod! Flavour was spot on, mild instead of overpowering. Texture was soft and tender, no overcooked fish, phew~ Another dish that I really like was the salad tossed with yuzu walnuts and citrus fruits, very refreshing and if you like rojak, you would love the ginger flower dressing too! That’s also solely for me, while the rest indulged in their foie gras salad (which admittedly had a great aroma).

I also gave my vote to the deconstructed sprout risotto, crunchy, rice-less and carb-free. Oh yes, everyone in our group raved about the humble potato too! Potato galette and potato fondant were supposed to be the sides but they clearly turned out to be the stars, instead of the grilled mackerel and wagyu beef. Celeriac lasagne with mushrooms definitely can’t hold a candle to Halia’s. The latter is a powerhouse of umami flavours, and 7Adam’s rendition was too.. Weak, for lack of a better word. Need more tweaking.

Desserts were a hit and a miss; white wine poached peach was easy to love, while the components on the plate of hazelnut parfait, cocoa soil, pistachio biscotti and financier came off as too individualistic. Nice on its own, but made no sense when eaten all at once.

veloute of trio pepper soup

hokkaido scallops carpaccio

celeriac lasagne layered with sautéed spinach, duxelle mushrooms, morel jus

salad with foie gras cubes, apples, pinenuts sautéed with ginger

thai influenced salad tossed with ginger flower dressing, yuzu walnuts, citrus fruits

deconstructed sprout risotto, sliced truffle, emulsion of mushrooms and wine

grilled atlantic mackerel, potato galette stuffed with parma ham, truffle olive rice

oven baked masala marinated atlantic cod, pilaf rice, haricot beans, lemongrass infused cream sauce

pan seared wagyu striploin, thai asparagus, potato fondant, green lime infused beef jus

hazelnut parfait, cocoa soil, pistachio biscotti, financier

white wine poached peach, vanilla crumble, white wine granita, sesame tuille

Thanks to Mindy and Mei Yan from Touch PR & Events for the invitation! Happy to finally meet you ladies.

7Adam Gallery Restaurant
7 Adam Park
6467 0777

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Nine Thirty by Awfully Chocolate

Full house at 11pm on a Saturday night, Nine Thirty by Awfully Chocolate must be doing something right! It replaces Mooshi Bakes and besides a more comprehensive menu, nothing much has changed.

While the guys polished off their meals (the three mushrooms penne is VERY good), I waited impatiently to get started on the desserts. Flourless chocolate cake and mousse-like cold poached chocolate were nice, but what we will keep going back for is the hei ice cream, bliss.

Three Mushrooms Penne ($16++)
shimeji, portobello, white button, cream sauce

Nine Thirty B.E.M. ($15++)
bacon, poached eggs, grilled portobello, cheese, sweet bun

Flourless Chocolate Cake ($5.61++)
dark chocolate cake, icing sugar

Cold Poached Chocolate ($5.61++)
slow set soft chocolate, vanilla cream (which I did without)

Hei Ice Cream ($5.79++ for double scoop)

Nine Thirty by Awfully Chocolate
131 East Coast Road
6345 2190

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Brunch at Halia, 3 Years On

My first brunch at Halia in Botanic Gardens was with a group of food bloggers more than three years ago! Omg how time flies.

Eggs benny seems to be the only constant between then and now, otherwise it’s a whole new revamped menu at Halia. No one can deny that the location is one of the key selling points. A relaxing meal among the lush foliage of the Ginger Garden is already food for the soul, isn’t it?

I’m not too excited about what we had, probably because the tasting menu comprised of items which I don’t fancy / beyond my dietary preference. Like oysters, french toast, wagyu rump (the rest of them loved this!!). The egg dishes (poached, sunny-side-up, omelette, we had them all) are competent, but not mind-blowing.

Which brings me to my favourite dish of the day: succulent prawns on a bed of lettuce and avocado, drizzled with homemade spicy tomato sauce. Hallelujah, finally an elegant prawn cocktail without any gross mayonnaise dressing (mayo and I will never be BFF)! This is an appetiser, but I can happily have this as a main and pass on the others, haha. Oh, and the sticky valrhona chocolate brownie is fab as well! How not to love it when salted caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream are part of the equation?!

cocktail of king prawns, spicy tomato sauce, avocado, wasabi & coriander ($22++)

a brunch special: coffin bay oysters, bloody mary ($6++ each)

cinnamon french toast, fresh seasonal berries, white chocolate & iranian pistachio ($18++)

omelette of blue swimmer crab & chinese sausage, sweet corn & coriander, tamarind galangal sesame dressing ($25++)

poached eggs on brioche, dill hollandaise, shaved honey baked ham (additional $4++), swiss brown mushroom, spinach & tomato ($22++)

wood smoked salmon toastie, capers, crème cheese & dill, sunny side up fried egg ($24++)

a brunch special: mayura station full blood wagyu rump, bacon, sunny side up hen’s egg, vine cherry tomato and barbecue sauce ($48++)

a brunch special: banana parfait

sticky valrhona chocolate brownie, salted caramel sauce & vanilla ice cream ($12++)

My thanks to Ivy from FoodNews for hosting brunch! Kind and thoughtful, as always.

Halia Restaurant (Botanic Gardens)
1 Cluny Road
Ginger Garden inside Botanic Gardens
6476 6711

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The Tsujiri Lady

I’m super impressed with Tsujiri!! Service first, cake second.

So what happened was we decided to get O-maccha ice blended (mine with green tea soft serve!) to go since the smaller-than-small café was full. But while picking up the drinks, we spotted this cake below.

Black sesame roll cake with kinako cream ($5.40).

Last piece left? Oh yes, definitely mine!

It was wrapped in a transparent plastic box and then me being fickle-minded as usual, I changed my mind and wanted to wait for a table instead. A Japanese couple was hogging the table beside them with their bags so we “ahem” them and had seats within 5 mins, haha. K took a proper plate from the staff so that I could photograph the cake and this lady came up to ask whether she can plate it for us cuz for in-house diners, whipped cream and red bean paste will be served together. Impressive! Very kind and observant of her; I can just imagine how many people will look the other way with that “why bother?” attitude. What’s even better is that she’s a Singaporean (not the Japanese staff at the counter)! I feel comforted that Singaporeans are still capable of winning service so kudos to you, the Tsujiri lady!

And the cake? Delicious, of course!

Tsujiri
#01-14B, 100AM
100 Tras Street
6543 6110

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New Menu at Skyve Wine Bistro

With his trusty sous vide machine and an emphasis on the sous vide technique (which is one of my favourite cooking styles), Chef-Owner Vincent has launched a new ala carte menu at Skyve Wine Bistro recently. I’m not a stranger to Chef Vincent’s competent cooking, having tried his food at now-defunct Table 66 in 2010 and then at brunch on my first visit to Skyve more than a year ago.

Most of the dishes we tasted were pretty spot on, especially the starter of fresh crabmeat with sweet Japanese momotaro and crispy-soft cereal crusted cod fish! Simple and delicious. His sous vide egg pasta is labelled a must try and while I lapped it all up, I thought the truffle salsa was a tad weak.

Since lamb and beef are not for me, I made a special request for the sous vide trout and he gladly obliged, thanks Chef! It was every bit as delightful as what I imagined, and I was surprised by the soya infused ikura, seemingly harmless but those ruby red roe completely elevated the whole dish.

For desserts, the strawberry parfait and mango semifreddo can’t hold a candle to the deconstructed tiramisu imo! The latter was gorgeous; fat moist lady fingers topped with a layer of light mascarpone cream and icy kahlua granita, bliss~ While chatting, Chef suddenly threw out the idea of flambéed tiramisu which sounds like a brilliant idea! I hope that’s executable and will be on the menu in the near future!

Crab & Tomato Momotaro ($22++)
chilled crabmeat, confit of tomato momotaro, thai inspired basil pesto, yuzu sorbet

Sous Vide Egg & Spaghettini ($18++)
soft poached egg, spaghettini in truffle salsa, iberico ham, truffle hollandaise

Sous Vide Petuna Trout ($18++)
warm poached petuna trout fillet, soyu infused ikura, branade croquette, herb butter sauce, grilled iwashi

Cereal Crusted Cod ($36++)
cereal and spice crusted cod fish, seasonal vegetables, soyu ginger vinaigrette

‘Tongue in Cheeks’ ($36++)
sous vide 6 hours wagyu beef cheeks, tempura of wagyu beef tongue, glazed baby carrots, garlic pomme purée

Lamb Rack ($40++)
grilled marinated lamb rack, curry spiced roasted pumpkin, roulade of savoury cabbage, mint and mango chutney

Tiramisu ($12++)
lady finger sponge infused with coffee liqueur, whipped mascarpone cream, kahlua granita

Inspired By Reds ($12++)
strawberry parfait, sous vide strawberry in balsamic vinegar, raspberry sorbet, flower tuile, dehydrated raspberry

Mango & Cheese Semifreddo ($12++)
rippled frozen mousse, frozen lime foam, sablee cookies

Many thanks to Shasha, Maggie and Chef Vincent for such a wonderful meal!

Skyve Elementary Bistro & Bar
No.10 Winstedt Road
Block E, #01-17
6225 6690

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Blackball

I quite like Blackball, especially since the fussy me can mix and match the toppings to my liking ($4.90 for 4 toppings, grass jelly included). Even the creamer is served on the side, excellent! Grass jelly is a must here, very good, obviously different from those sold in supermarkets and hawker stalls. I like beans so red beans and kidney beans are a safe bet. Black sugar ice jelly sounds interesting but too sweet, once is enough. I didn’t like 粉圆 when I tried the authentic ones in Taiwan but it seems like an incomplete Blackball experience without those specialty yam/potato balls. So I asked for a recommendation from the staff for the least chewy of them all, and ta-da, in went the golden sweet potato balls. No regrets, these are not too chewy or starchy. Next time I’ll ask for less sugar, and this will be an ideal (and relatively healthier) dessert for a hot sunny day!

Blackball
#02-27, 112 Katong Mall
112 East Coast Road
6538 3885

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The Halia (Raffles Hotel)

Halia at Raffles Hotel is the urban and chic sister of flagship Halia at Singapore Botanic Gardens. I like how spacious and casual it is, and there’s also an al fresco bar with a huge Hendrick’s bathtub. We ooohh-ed and aahhh-ed over it after learning that it’s an actual Hendrick’s Gin dispenser!

Dinner began properly with a round of drinks (i.e. alcohol after a long day at work heh). Singapore Sling by Hendrick’s ($28++) is a well-balanced easy-to-drink cocktail (my favourite on SQ flights) but too expensive imo. To which I was told it’s similarly priced as Long Bar (birthplace of Singapore Sling) upstairs. Shrug, guess there will always be takers for pricey alcohol.

Then came a steady streams of sides, “small plates” and “big plates” — these are not starters or main courses. The concept is that your dining experience can consist of a big plate to share before a small plate, or several small plates (or even big plates, if you are hungry!) to last the meal. No rules, no formulas.

Presentation was top-notch and most of the dishes were very photogenic, making my life very easy (thank you chef)! I love how colourful our plates were, especially the cured hiramasa kingfish, foie gras salad, and sous vide chicken leg! Towards the end of the meal, we were asked which small and big plate do we like most. My answer was immediate — celeriac “lasagne”. Period. It’s so delicious that I wanted to hog the whole plate but sadly I have to share, haha. Oh no, I’ve got a sudden craving for it now!

I’ve got no fav for the big plates; they were not bad, but nothing as impressive as the vegetarian friendly “lasagne”. Actually, I imagine I’d have loved the mushroom, lentil and walnut bake (from reading the description on the menu) but it was “sold out” that day. Minus points since it’s a no-no for any restaurant to be unable to deliver what’s promised on the menu.

Anyway, on to the desserts! The sticky toffee pudding was such a hit that there was an encore order for it! I much prefer the light and fruity chilled strawberry soup, with an interesting tinge of sourish balsamic vinegar in it. And it’s been quite awhile since I had the gimmicky “let’s pour some liquid (sparkling wine in this case) at the table” performance so that was nice, double thumbs up!

Polenta Coated Asparagus ($9++)
basil lemon mayo

Cured Hiramasa Kingfish ($25++)
paprika, citrus, espelette pepper, lemon, daikon, sauce vierge

Wagyu Beef Carpaccio ($24++)
truffle aioli, micro cress, chilli lemon salt, pickled radish

Celeriac “Lasagna” ($12++)
mushroom, thyme, baby spinach, lemon, madeira cream

Foie Gras Salad ($23++)
apricot chutney, ginger, blueberry, crouton, almond kernel

Oriental Pulled Duck ($18++)
gherkin, caper, micro herb salad, soba noodles, sesame oil

Sous Vide Baharat Chicken Leg ($28++)
butternut squash puree & roast, ginger, coriander red pepper salsa

Seafood Gratin ($26++)
pignolina pasta, basil, parmesan, olive oil

Halia Chilli Crab ($25++)
spaghettini, spring onion, egg

Javanese Spice Maori Lakes Rack of Lamb ($49++)
eggplant puree, red pepper relish

Ginger Nougat Parfait ($10++)
caramelised pineapple, puff pastry, almond, anise, cinnamon

Chilled Strawberry Soup ($12++)
sparkling wine, balsamic, lime sorbet, black pepper

Sticky Toffee Pudding ($10++)
date, butterscotch sauce, sea salt, vanilla ice cream

White Chocolate Mousse ($12++)
chocolate soil, peach puree, raspberry, chocolate ice cream

Special thanks to Ivy (who has already memorized my dietary requirements by now haha), LeRoy, Jael and Alethea from FoodNews for the kind invitation and making sure we are well-fed!

The Halia
#01-22/23 Raffles Hotel
1 Beach Road
9639 1148

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Baker and Cook

Ignoring ants ants and more ants at Baker and Cook (which the management subsequently explained that “whilst we have regular pest control at our premises, it seems that this new bout of ants was overlooked by our staff”), BFF and I self-congratulated ourselves that the three cakes we chose (after much deliberation) are good!

Orange almond cake is a natural favourite of mine, zesty and light despite the use of almond meal; lemon tart is one of their bestsellers, easy to concur since it’s refreshing and not mouth-puckeringly sour at all; we scrapped off the too-sweet sugary icing on the carrot cake and what’s left is a moist and soft body, a nice change from the rustic dense versions which I usually love.

Gluten Free Orange Almond Cake ($4.50)

Lemon Tart ($5)

Carrot Cake ($4.50)

Baker & Cook (Martin Road)
38A Martin Road
6636 5965

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Alfero Artisan Gelato

To whoever thinks that fat free gelato exists:
hello, you are deluded (and I wish I live in your world).

As owner Marco Alfero puts it matter of factly, zero fat gelato is impossible. But minimal fat gelato is another matter. Compared to conventional ice cream (18-30% fat), the gelato at Alfero Artisan Gelato only has 2-9% fat.

Not too bad right?

Though imo, when it comes to desserts, we should just indulge freely and worry about calories later, haha.

Every self-respecting ice cream parlour will boost of fresh quality ingredients so that has somewhat become a given in Singapore. What’s different about Alfero’s is that all the gelato are stored in pozzetto cabinets, airtight and lightproof metal containers which I’ve seen many times in gelaterias while traveling around Italy.

Those pozzetto cabinets have resulted in some amusing stories, with people mistaking Alfero as a shop selling soups when it first opened, lol.

The rotation rule applies and at any one time, there’s about 15 flavours available. I find that flavours are generally on the “safe” side, and none too interesting out of the norm. That said, it was tough to pick just 3 flavours for the largest cup (Marco kindly allowed me to choose 4, yay!) since most of the flavours were so good.

My favourite is the pistachio gelato, made only with pistachios from Bronte (Sicily) so that’s the real deal! Mango and raspberry are lovingly bold and naturally sweet; avocado is kind of light and mild while durian is potent and strong; bacio and chocolate mint are close twins of ferrero rocher and After Eight respectively, both bound to please; chocolate is dark and intense; snow white is too milky for me, gula melaka too sweet; rum and raisin is not overwhelming like competitor Udder’s.

See what I mean about safe flavours?

Anyway, the next time you need a cold treat (which has to be soon in this unforgiving hot weather), give Alfero Artisan Gelato a try! I’m 99.999% sure you will love it!

My thanks to Christina for the kind invitation, and Marco and Meiling for hosting!

Prices:
$4.50 for 1 flavour, $6.50 for 2, $8.50 for 3.
Add $1 for cone instead of cup.
$18 (500g) and $35 (1kg) for take away tubs.

Alfero Artisan Gelato
#01-37, 81 Mac Pherson Lane
6848 4269

#01-01, 21 Lorong Kilat
6463 3835

#02-226A/B, Marina Square Shopping Centre
6 Raffles Boulevard
6338 5828

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Cotton Bleu

Have you heard of Candlemas before?

Nope?

Same here!

If not for Cotton Bleu, a casual family run restaurant serving up unpretentious and decent French fare, I’d probably still be living in ignorance!

The story goes that while stalking restaurants on Facebook one day, I came across Cotton Blue’s page and found out about its Candlemas Crepe Feast. My online BFF (a.k.a. Google) told me that Candlemas is a Christian holiday on February 2 to celebrate the presentation of Christ in the temple at Jerusalem on the 40th day after His birth, and it also marks the midpoint of winter, halfway between the shortest day and the spring equinox. See, loving food can make us more knowledgeable!

Since it’s a tradition to eat crepes on Candlemas in France, crepes, crepes and more crepes off the special Candlemas menu were all we ordered for dinner! And those were some very good homemade crepes, from a very interesting one-of-a-kind smoked salmon “mille feuille” crepe to the most mouthwatering seafood crepe… Which makes me wonder, are the daily ala carte items just as good?

smoked salmon mille crepe

seafood crepe with melted cheese

prosciutto mushroom topped with melted cheese and sunny side crepe

Cotton Bleu
205 Upper Thomson Road
6252 5525

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